Illegitimate Uchiha
by Silvermoon50333
Summary: My birth was forbidden. My entire life a lie. My name is Sakura Haruno, at least that's what my legal birth certificate says. My real name, the one I am not allowed to tell anyone, is Sakura Uchiha.
1. Chapter 1

_**Note: I do not own Naruto. All characters belong to the original creator other then any I create myself. **_

_**Introduction: **_

My birth was forbidden. My entire life a lie. My name is Sakura Haruno, at least that's what my legal birth certificate says. My real name, the one I am not allowed to tell anyone, is Sakura Uchiha. I am the product of an affair that my mother Mebuki Haruno had with an Uchiha man.

When I was six my mother told me everything, from why I had to wear green colored contacts to hide the real color of my eyes, which they are the color of obsidian to what my true identity is. My pink hair was an unfortunate product of the two clans mixing together.

I entered the Konoha Ninja Academy when I was five, like many of the other children my age did, and I excelled at; genjutsu, ninjutsu, and taijutsu. The only person who got better grades then I did was Sasuke Uchiha, one of the only Uchihas left along with me and Sasuke's murderous older brother Itachi. Although, I could have done much better then Sasuke, I decided to downplay my skills. My true talents could possibly be up with Itachi, who is still a legend in the school even after what happened. Really, that would be just what I need, someone questioning how in the world I have the skills I have. The most likely the outcome would be the discovery of who I really am.

Anyway, unlike pure-blooded Uchihas, my Sharingan-the greatest power in the Uchiha clan that is envied among even the best shinobi-has not awakened. Perhaps that is for the best. If I were to lose control of Sharigan since I am not a full Uchiha and my true self was revealed, well, I don't even want to think of the consequences that would be forced upon my mother and me.

During my schooling at the Ninja Academy, I began to pretend to notice boys, as all of the other girls did, and I even pretended to fan-girl over Sasuke, as the other girls had. I had to keep up my appearance in front of everyone. I could not let it slip.

There was another boy that caught my attention, but again not in a boy-girl young love scenario. His name was Naruto Uzumaki, a poor parentless boy who spent most of his time failing exams and pulling obnoxious pranks. I also knew that he had something dark inside of him, something like a demon. The only reason I know was because of my second spirit.

My second spirit is far more ferocious then me. I believe that she came into existence due to me being a mix breed of two very strong clans. I believed her to be holder of the hatred, the lust, and the evil that came from the Uchiha side and the container of my true powers from my Haruno side (I have a few that I can use, such as reading strong emotions and looking at peoples' spirits).

The members of the Haruno clan are very strong and they have always hidden their true powers away from the shinobi world. If they were to know what the Haruno was truly capable of, then shinobi from all over the nations would come after and try to get a hold of these powers. You see, the Haruno clan has always been able to sense and to see the nature of others souls. It could also be used to read minds and control them without having to use the Yamanaka Clan's Mind-Jutsu. In fact, this technique didn't even have to use chakra.

There are five known chakra types in the shinobi world: water, earth, fire, wind, and lightning. In a sense, the Haruno ability was a sixth nature. The power of the Haruno clan was somewhat like being spirit-natured except that the powers that were held were not from the power of chakra, but from the mind itself.

_**Chapter 1-Introductions**_

_Sakura is twelve and is newly graduated from the Konaha Ninja Academy._

"Cha! Why did we have to end up with Naruto!" my inner self shouted. "Sasuke's great, but seriously Naruto?"

"Calm down, perhaps it will be fine," I say to her.

"Hmph. Two Uchihas will be fine on a team, but with Uzumaki! Well, we will all be killed because he will do something stupid!"

"I don't think the fox would allow him to die. Don't call us an Uchiha, either. If we begin to believe that we are Uchiha,_ that_ power may awaken," I sigh.

"Tch.. Whatever," she says and then falls silent.

Having two spirits is annoying; especially when that spirit is bitter at being locked inside of you. At least she is quiet now.

My alarm clock goes off, it is 5: 40. I sit up from my bed, stretch and begin changing to meet with my new team later in the day. The first things I do is put my green contacts in and change from my nightgown into a simple konoichi red dress that had the symbol of the Haruno clan on it. I found my blue ninja-styled boots and put them on, along with my new headband. I put my weapons holster onto my right leg and add a few extra kunai weapons into it.

I tucked my long pink hair behind my ears and felt ready enough to go downstairs. I knew my mother would no doubt be sitting at the table and reading a report from her last mission.

"Morning, Sakura," my mother said before I had even walked into the kitchen.

"Hello, mother," I smiled at her when I entered the room. "Have you eaten yet?"

"No, but don't worry about me, I have several things to go through on this report before I can even consider eating."

"Alright," I say as I make my way to the fridge. I open its door and pull out the ingredients to make an omelet.

After I had finished preparing and eating breakfast, I left home and headed to the roof that my new sensei, Kakashi had told us to meet him at after the graduation and the team assignments.

When I finally reached it, the only one who hadn't shown up yet was Kakashi Sensei. I glanced at my two teammates. My cousin and the fox, the odds of the three of us being put on the same team was very low, yet here we were.

I looked over at Naruto who had blonde hair and striking blue eyes. Down his cheeks were marks that looked like whiskers, which made sense, considering he was the jinchuuriki of the kyuubi a fox demon called the Nine Tails, which had attacked the village twelve years ago. I wonder if he knew who he truly was. I knew that Sasuke did not know, in fact all of the younger people in the village did not have any idea of what Naruto was, but they hated him because their parents hated him. The only reason I know had to do with me sneaking into restricted achieve section when I was ten years old. Surprisingly, that kind of information was not guarded as well as I thought it would be; a simple Genjutsu on the Jounin guards, and I had walked past them completely unnoticed. Naruto was always happy, at least that is what he put on, but truly he was lonely and hurt.

I turned and looked at Sasuke. He was handsome, I would admit that; but truly I never had any interest in him, it was all a façade to insure my identity would be kept. He had the same color of eyes as I did, when I had my contacts off, that is; he also had the same obsidian color in his hair as well. But quite unlike the goofy, unserious expression that Naruto had, Sasuke literally had a hateful aura around him. Even without the power of the Haruno clan, you could tell. It oozed pain, loneliness, and hatred. I knew why. His older brother had murdered his…our entire clan and he wanted revenge.

"Ahhhhhhh! He's late by like one hour!" Naruto yelled suddenly. "You know what?"

I looked back over at Naruto who was up was rigging the door so that when our sensei opened it, the eraser would fall on him. "This is what you get for being late!" he giggled.

"Idiot," Sasuke muttered. "A Jounin would never fall for that."

This is where I needed to speak up, "Yeah…don't be stupid!" Of course this is when our Sensei walks in and completely destroys the claims Sasuke and I made.

"Hahahahaha! He fell for it!" Naruto shouted.

"Great, I got a bunch of idiots for a team," Kakashi muttered. "Anyway, let's introduce ourselves."

I sit down between Sasuke and Naruto just as Naruto pipes up, "What do ya want to know?"

"How about likes, dislikes, your dreams, I don't care…" Kakashi says.

"You should go first!" Naruto yells.

"Fine… My name is Kakashi Hatake...I'm not telling you my likes and dislikes, I have never thought about my dreams, and I have a lot of hobbies," he vaguely introduces himself.

"I'll go next!" Naruto yells again. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, remember it! I like ramen and especially when Iruka sensei buys it for me, I hate waiting three minutes ramen, and someday I will be Hokage and everyone will acknowledge me…oh yeah, my hobbies! I prank people all of the time!"

"Okay, then," Kakashi said. "How about you next," he points at Sasuke.

"Hn. My name is Sasuke Uchiha," he spits out. "I do not like anything and I hate most things. I have only one dream…no it is not a dream because I will fulfill it. I will restore my clan someday and I will kill a certain man!" A shocked silence followed Sasuke's introduction that came from Naruto and Kakashi. I myself was not surprised at what he said, but I pretended to be.

Kakashi coughed once before turning to me. "You're last."

Dang it, it's time for my introduction. Okay, I need to keep it at a minimum, but what do I say? I can't say what I really do and what I like.

"Why don't you fan-girl over Sasuke? That has always worked before," my inner self speaks up. "Besides you are good at it."

"Fine, I will," I think back at her. Out loud I say, "Okay, my name is Sakura Haruno! I like..." I work up a blush. "The person I like…." I giggle like a school girl. "My dream for the future is…" I glance at Sasuke. "Oh yeah, I hate Naruto!" Kakashi's sigh proved that he bought my act. I could rest easy now, but I would still have to pretend to be all over Sasuke.

"Today was about introductions. Tomorrow, we will do something, just the four of us," Kakashi says.

Naruto raised his hand excitedly, "Are we going on a mission?"

"No, we are doing…let's call it survival training."

"Hn. Didn't we already go through this at the academy?" Sasuke asks.

"This is different. This time your opponent will be me," Kakashi said, then he laughed.

Curiosity got to me and I had to ask: "Why are you laughing?"

"You will find out tomorrow. Meet me at the training area tomorrow at eight o'clock. He turns to leave. "Oh yeah, don't eat breakfast."

"What! Why?!" Naruto whined.

"Well, we wouldn't want anyone to get sick and throw up, now would we?" Kakashi slyly said and with a _poof_ he was gone.

I knew exactly what would happen. I read Kakashi's file when I heard he would be our Sensei. We were going through a trial to see if our teamwork was good. It had something to do with the death of a teammate when he was a Genin. I knew I couldn't let the others know what I knew, so I would go along with it and see what they did before I would do anything. I also knew I had to pretend to be horrible at being a ninja. This might prove to be difficult, but I guess I will have to let everything play out. I had been chosen for an interesting team, I could only hope that my identity would be kept safe.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Author's Note: First of all, thank you to my very first reviewer! JohnnyLove, you are awesome! Second, I have a question for readers: How often do you want to see a new chapter? (Please be reasonable, I have a lot of stuff going on with school, thank you!) I personally know that authors that don't update for months are really annoying, so I would like to know the maximum amount of time that wouldn't be super annoying. Third, this story may sound really redundant to the original series, but it will only start that way (I'm going to take this series a bit slow and build up to a really great original story, at least I hope I can.) Lastly, this is my very first story, so I will welcome any constructive criticism (please no flames!) I WANT to know what the readers want, and I will try to incorporate your ideas to make a totally awesome story! Thank you everyone! **_

_**Note: Conversations in italics will always be between Sakura and her inner self. **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, and any characters that I haven't made up belong to the original creator. **_

_**Chapter 2-The Test **_

_"It's official, I hate Kakashi," _my inner self said._ "He is freaking three hours late!"_

_"Calm down, he will probably be here shortly," _I muttered to her.

My team was all at the training grounds before eight o'clock, and it was now almost eleven. Kakashi was very late and all we could do was sit and wait for him.

"This is dumb!" Naruto shouts. "Isn't it Sasuke?"

"Hn," was my cousin's reply.

Naruto turned to me, "What do you think, Sakura-chan? Isn't Kakashi Sensei stupid?"

What did I think? Honestly, the wait did not bother me at all. My inner self may be complaining, but she really didn't mind either; after all it was a ninja's job to be able to stay in one place for a long period of time. I knew that an answer like that would not be typical for a fresh graduate to say, so I decided to upon, "Yeah, he is! I got up late and didn't even get a chance to brush my hair, today!"

"Me either," Naruto said excitedly. "I couldn't change my underwear or brush my teeth, either!"

"Umm.. ewww, Naruto. I so didn't need to hear that," I let my girly side take over and say.

"Sakura-chan…. Don't be like that!" Naruto whined.

"Will you two stop arguing, it's annoying," a voice said behind me. Naruto jumped and Sasuke looked slightly startled. I myself wasn't surprised that Kakashi was there; I had heard him approaching for about five minutes, but I allowed myself to pretend to be shocked and I turned around. Kakashi was in his usual attire: gloves, mask over his mouth, his headband covering one eye, and normal ninja clothes. He was holding a book, and on closer examination, I realized that he was reading one of the perverted books in the series called _Makeout Paradise_.

"Woah, when did you get there Kakashi Sensei?" Naruto yelped.

_"And he calls himself a ninja," _my inner self smirked._ "How did he ever graduate?" _

_ "No idea, but be nice," _I told her.

_ "Fine, but it will be hard," _she said.

"Naruto, one rule in the ninja world is that you never let someone sneak up behind you. When will you learn?" Kakashi sighed shaking his head. "Well it looks like everyone is here, let's get started."

"Wait, how come you are late?" Naruto bellowed. "You told us to be here at 8'o clock! Its 11 o' clock, now!"

"I told you all to be here at 8'clock, I didn't say I would be here, now did I? Besides, I got lost on the path of life," Kakashi smirked.

"That's not fair, Kakashi Sensei!" Naruto yelled again.

"He has a point, dobe," Sasuke said. "He never did say he would be here at eight, so shut up."

"You shut up, teme!" Naruto whined.

Dang those two were annoying.

_"Why don't you hit Naruto? It would fit in with this fake identity you are trying to pull," _inner self spoke up.

_"Good idea," _I thought back_. "My real self doesn't have any quarrel with Naruto, but my fan-girl self would be angry that he had insulted 'my' Sasuke." _

"Naruto!" I screamed and hit him on the head.

"Sakkurraa-chan!" Naruto moaned holding his head. "Why did you hit me?"

"Shut up, idiot," I said.

I heard Kakashi sigh again, "All of you shut up, let's go." Kakashi walked towards the woods and all of us followed him.

We entered a clearing and stopped. Kakashi turned to us and held up two bells, "The point of this exercise is to take these bells away from me. To continue on a path to being a ninja, you must take one of these bells before time runs out. Failure to do so will result in you going back to the academy."

"What?" I said, even though I already knew what was supposed to happen. "There are only two bells!"

"Yes," Kakashi agreed.

"Doesn't that mean that only two of us can continue on being ninja?" Sasuke inquired.

"Yes," Kakashi said simply.

"Wait what! I thought we were already ninja! Why do we have to go through this stupid test?" Naruto howled.

"It seems as if someone fears that they will lose," said Kakashi.

"N…No! I will get one of those bells! Believe it!" Naruto yelled.

"Sure, you will," Kakashi said with a fake grin. "Alright, here are the rules: the first rule has already been explained; if you want to keep being a ninja and don't want to get sent back to the academy, you will get a bell before the time runs out. The second rule is that if you want to eat lunch, you will get a bell. The third rule is that you can use any technique or weapons you desire against me. You need to come at me with the intent of killing me."

"Ha, if we do that, we will definitely kill you! You can't even dodge an eraser!" Naruto laughed. "This will be a piece of cake!"

"In the real world, those who have the loudest mouths are the ones who will fail first," Kakashi said in a serious voice. He turns to Sasuke and me, "Looks like you both will not have to worry about any competition. Just ignore Mr. DeadLast, and start when I…"

Naruto suddenly pulls out a kunai and charges at Kakashi. Before he could reach him, Kakashi is suddenly behind him holding Naruto's kunai to the back of his neck. "Calm down, I haven't even said go, yet," Kakashi mutters. "I'm glad you finally have come at me with the intent to kill. Alright, START!"

With that warning, all of us disappear…except for Naruto who is bellowing something out and still standing in front of Kakashi.

"_Yep, Naruto is going to die today," _my inner self states,_ "the kid is stupid, that's for sure." _

"_I don't know if Kakashi will kill him; he definitively could if he wanted to. Naruto should know by now that concealing oneself is one of the most basic ninja rules. I am pretty sure that it is taught on the very first day at the academy," _I say_. "I still hope that my teammates realize that we are being set up. We need to work together to complete this, otherwise we will fail. It doesn't look as if normal graduates would know this, so I must keep it to myself. I doubt that they are even thinking about the fact that we are put into a three man cell for a reason. I really do want to help Naruto out, but I can't."_

"_You know, it would be much easier for us if you didn't hide our real skills. We could go down there, kick Kakashi's butt in less than five seconds, and be on our way," _she suggested_. _

"_Yes, that would be an option, if I wasn't worried that if we did that my real identity wouldn't be kept safe and it wouldn't end up in getting all of us killed," _I said_. "You need to think about all of the consequences of an action when on the field. A true ninja cannot act rashly."_

"_Whatever. Have it your way," _inner said_. _

While I was talking to my inner self, Naruto had managed to not only succeed in not getting a bell, but falling for a trap that Kakashi had obviously set for him. I quickly I noted that Kakashi had disappeared from his previous battle grounds and was currently behind me. It was so obvious that the Jounin was there, it hurt. I ached to perform a high level Jutsu attack on him and easily take a bell. I could place a Genjutsu on him and make him hand over a bell. I could use less than five Taijutsu moves on him and knock him out cold! I could so easily defeat Kakashi! In the two point six second time period since Kakashi had tried to sneak behind me without my knowledge, I had already come up with a little over fifty ways to defeat him. I had even prioritized which would be the most effective and quickest ways to do it. I had to force myself to go against the very nature of being a ninja and pretend I had never even noticed Kakashi was crouched behind me.

Kakashi spoke, not realizing that I knew he was there, "Sakura, behind you!"

I pretended to freak out and I even let out a little gasp. Kakashi took my pretend signs of weakness to his advantage. He tapped my forehead and used a level one Genjutsu on me that made it look like leaves flying around me. I reflexively raised my hands to make the sign that would shatter the illusion, but before I could do so, my inner self stopped me. _"I wouldn't do that, unless you want him to know that you are no normal Genin," _she smirked. _"I mean, I would love if you knocked off this little charade you are trying to pull, but I don't think that you would want to do that. Remember what you said earlier? "'You need to think about all of the consequences of an action when on the field. A true ninja cannot act rashly.'" _

I should have known that she would take that comment and throw it back into my face. I sigh,_ "You are correct. I cannot put my mother and me into danger because I can't control myself. I will have to continue to pretend that I am worthless and cannot even get out of a level one Genjutsu." _

I allowed the mirage to fully take hold of me and I started walking forward, slightly curious to what Kakashi was trying to do with putting a Genjutsu on me.

"Sakura?" a voice called out to me. I recognized the voice as Sasuke's.

"Sasuke-kun?" I yelled out. I started to realize what Kakashi was doing with this, and knew I had to play along.

The Genjutsu Sasuke staggered out of the bushes, his body riddled with weapons and he was covered in blood. He had only been standing there for a few seconds, but the ground was already covered in crimson puddles. The mirage gasped out to me, "Sakura, help me!"

I knew Kakashi was listening to me on the outside of the Genjutsu, so I decided to continue with my act and scream as high and as girly as I could, then pretend to faint. Kakashi must have bought it, because the Genjutsu shattered and he disappeared; presumably to find Sasuke.

When I 'woke' up, I heard the sounds of a battle not far from my location. It sounded pretty fierce, completely different from when Naruto tried to fight Kakashi. I heard the familiar sound of a Ninjutsu that the Uchiha clan specialized in: Fire Style-Fireball Jutsu.

"_Idiot, does he want to burn the entire forest down? _My inner self said. _"How is he even an Uchiha? _

"_He is only a Genin, he will learn," _I said.

"_So are we, and look at what we can do," _she said._ "He should be better than that. Not only is he a ninja, but he's one of the heirs to the Uchiha clan. Look at Itachi, see his power? He was stronger when he was six, then what Sasuke is now."_

"_Yes, and look at the result of that. He murdered an entire clan; his clan to be exact. He became bloodthirsty and killed his own family. We don't need another person being like him," _I shot back.

"_Perhaps," _she said.

What did she mean by that? I know that my inner self is a bit psychotic, but still. Anyway, I could tell the battle was over. Uses my chakra senses, I figured that Naruto was still in the clearing and Kakashi was sneaking up on him. Sasuke was still where the battle took place, so I decided to pretend I was looking for him.

I stumbled around and headed towards Sasuke's direction. When I reached the area, I noted that it was badly burnt. Sasuke still hadn't moved from where he was and on further examination from a nearby tree, I discovered that Kakashi had pulled him into the ground and he was currently stuck. I had to hold back a laugh that was trying to force itself from my lips. He was truly an idiot. Kakashi must have used a Jutsu to hide himself in the ground after Sasuke used a fire Jutsu on him. Sasuke probably didn't think about under the ground when he was looking for him and Kakashi used that to his advantage to pull him down.

I jumped down from the tree silently, and walked over to Sasuke. I pretended to freak out upon discovering his "severed head" and I fainted again. When I again "awoke" Sasuke was standing over me shaking his head.

"Get up, the time is out," he said to me.

"Sasuke-kun, you are alive!" I yelled.

"Idiot, of course am," he growled. "Let's go."

I stood up and brushed my ninja dress off and we began to walk back to the clearing. When we reached it, I saw that Naruto had been tied up-he most likely he tried to steal the food that Kakashi had laid out.

Kakashi told us to sit down and gave us lunch. He started talking, "There is no need for all of you to go back to the academy."

"Yeah!" Naruto yelled. "I knew we could do it!"

"So that means that we all pass?" I said, knowing full well that that's not what Kakashi meant.

"Hn." Sasuke said.

"Then all three of us…" Naruto started.

"Yep, all three of you should quit being ninja!" Kakashi said.

"What?!" Naruto shouted. "We have worked hard to be here! Why should we quit?"

Sasuke looked very startled at what Kakashi said, but didn't speak.

"Because all of you are punks," Kakashi stated. You don't deserve to be ninja"

Sasuke's emotions suddenly spiked in a ferocious manner and he attacked Kakashi. Kakashi easily detained him by putting him to the ground with a foot on his back.

"Don't step on Sasuke-kun!" I yelled, letting my "fan-girl" emotions slip through.

"Are you all stupid?" Kakashi spit out. "Why do you think you were split into teams and are doing this?"

"What…What do you mean?" I whispered, though I already knew it.

"It's teamwork," Kakashi said. "The solution to this problem is teamwork! Do you really think that a Genin could defeat a Jounin alone? This test isn't unfair! If all of you worked together, you could have gotten the bells!"

"What do you mean working together? There are only two bells! If we had worked together, one of us still would fail!" Naruto said.

"Of course, this test is to pit you against each other. The purpose of this test is to see if you could put the own gain of your teammates ahead of your own interests and work together as one. Sakura, instead of helping Naruto who was in front of you, you went after Sasuke who was much farther away. Naruto, you went running around by yourself! And Sasuke, you thought you were so much above your own teammates and just assumed that if you worked with them, they would get into your way! A ninja cannot act like this!" Kakashi said shaking his head.

He went on to tell us about a stone with many names engraved on it. Naruto, being Naruto, yelled that he wanted his name on the stone. Kakashi told us that only those who die in battle who sacrificed their lives for the village and for their teammates are written on the stone. He told us that he would give us one more chance to pass after lunch, but it would be harder to get the bells. He told us to eat and not to give any to Naruto or we would all fail and never be ninja again.

While Sasuke and I were eating I could clearly hear Naruto's stomach growling. _"Come on, see through Kakashi's deception! Give Naruto some of your lunch! I can't because I can't let up this act to hide that I am your cousin! Please! Hurry and do it!"_ I yelled at Sasuke in my head.

As if reading my mind, Sasuke suddenly held out his food to Naruto, "Here."

"What? Sasuke-Kun, Kakashi-Sensei said..." I started.

"Don't worry, Kakashi isn't here. After lunch we will work as a team and we can't do that if one of us is hungry," Sasuke said.

"_Well done, cousin. You saw through it!"_ I thought. Out loud I said, "We can share my lunch too!"

I knew that Kakashi was still watching us from behind a tree twenty meters south and I hoped that he bought my act of ignorance. Suddenly Kakashi moved and charged at us.

"You guys…" he shouted. "Pass."

"Pass? But why?" I ask.

"You are the first team to see through my words. A ninja must see through the deception and look underneath the underneath. In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum, but those who don't take care of their teammates are worse than scum," Kakashi said looking over us. "Congratulations, tomorrow we will begin our work as a team."

"Yeah! I did it! I'm a ninja!" Naruto shouted excitedly. "Woohoo!"

"Let's go," Kakashi smiled and we all started to walk away, leaving Naruto tied to the stump.

"Hey! Hey wait!" Naruto said frantically. "Untie me!" We continued walking.

"_Pfft," _my inner self laughed_. "The idiot will have to learn the hard way to use the Escape Jutsu." _

"_Yes, it is a bit mean to leave him out there, but it is really funny," _I smirked.

I knew I would check on him later to make sure that he had gotten out. I was glad that we could go home. I was happy that I was finally able to be on a team. I hated that I had to still hide myself, but I liked that I could start my way into the ninja life. Tomorrow will be a new day, and I looked forward to it!


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's Note: Thank you everyone for reading my story! If you have any ideas that would make my story better, please review! I **__**LOVE**__** constructive criticism, so tell me what you think! **_

_**Note: All conversations in italics are between Sakura and her inner self. Any other text that is in italics is flashbacks. **_

_**Disclaimer: As usual, I do not own Naruto or any characters I didn't make up. **_

_**Chapter 3-Training **_

My kunai hit the target with a sharp _twang_. I closed my eyes and threw five more blindly; the sound of each hitting their targets assured me that they all had hit the center. With my eyes still closed I pictured an object behind me and I flipped in midair shooting Fire Style: Fire Phoenix Flower Jutsu at it. I landed perfectly and opened my eyes. The target was burnt to a crisp while the rest of my training area was left virtually untouched. I stood up straight and stretched my arms and legs-I had been training all day and the sun was starting to go down so I had to return home soon.

I loved my training area-no one knew about it besides me and it was protected by a strong Genjutsu so that no one could ever find it-It was where I could be free and not have to pretend to be some stupid, horrible, ninja fan-girl. I could use whatever powers I wanted and not have to worry about someone discovering my true identity. It was rather simple training area, as I had to build it myself and I had limited resources. It was a small clearing that was stuck in the middle of many closely knitted trees that completely covered it from the naked eye-the Genjutsu also helped with this. The training area itself had many targets that were set up at different angles and heights and were worn from the constant use over the years. I had many different wooden objects set around as well, for me to practice my Fire Jutsu; many of those were burnt badly and needed replaced. I had an area for other weapons training as well, so I was not limited to the use of the Kunai and Ninja Stars.

The weapons area was set us with many different types of katana, fans, several boomerang-like weapons, and a bow and arrows. I excelled with the boomerang-like weapons, but I preferred a katana over any of the other weapons. (I never used them during the academy or with my team either-not many Genin were skilled with them and I figured that I shouldn't bring attention to myself by using any other weapons then the normal Kunai and ninja stars.)

I had been coming to this training area almost every time I could get away from my team-we had been assigned very boring, very slow missions. I understood the reasons behind them, but that didn't make them any less dull. Just yesterday we had a mission to find a cat.

_"What is your location?" the walkie-talkie crackled with the sound of Kakashi's voice. _

_ "We are moving in on the target," Sasuke whispered. "We will chase him towards the west gate, be ready." _

_ "Copy that," Kakashi stated. _

_ I could see the target through the trees. He was calmly chasing a butterfly that was fluttering above him. His grey fur shined in the streaks of light that were breaking through the cloudy sky. _

_ "Let's get ready!" I hissed quietly. I pressed the button on the walkie-talkie, "Naruto stand by!" _

_ I got no reply from Naruto and I quickly understood why when he suddenly jumped out of a tree and tried to pounce on the cat. The cat reacted as any cat would. It hissed ferociously and clawed at Naruto's face, leaving him with three long, bloody scratches that ran down his cheek before dashing away under a bush. _

_ "Yow!" Naruto screeched holding his cheek. "That baka of a cat!" _

_ "You are the only idiot here!" Sasuke seethed. "Now we have to find that thing again! It took us all afternoon to track him before!" _

_ We eventually found the animal again, but when we finally caught him, the sun was going down. The lady paid us for the mission and nearly squeezed "Mr. Fluffy" to death before putting the poor cat on a lease and threatening to never take him off of it again. _

I smiled at the memory of yesterday. It was interesting to see Sasuke so worked up for once, when normally he isn't so passionate about anything.

The reason I was able to take the whole day to train was because we had done a mission almost every day since we had officially became Genin, and Kakashi decided that we all needed a break. Earlier I had passed Sasuke and Naruto training at the regular training grounds. They were fighting each other with Naruto definitely losing.

Tomorrow, we would have another mission to go on. I was slightly fed up with missions like chasing cats and weeding someone's garden (which Naruto failed on, as he ended up pulling all of the ladies flowers. We ended up not getting any mission money.), so I really hoped that there would be one that took us out of the village for a change.

_"We could have been able to get out of this village sooner, if you weren't so dead set on keeping your powers a secret," _my inner self piped up_. "We could be Jounin by now or something more advanced than being a Genin who only does pathetic jobs."_

_ "Yes, or we could be in the morgue of an enemy nation right now, while they try to figure out how to steal my powers to use against Konoha," _I shot back.

_ "Whatever," _she said before sinking back into wherever she dwells. 

She is getting very annoying; she is constantly trying to get me to reveal my powers. Well either way, I will never do so. I don't want to give up my identity and put my mother or my village in any danger.

Returning to reality, I stretch a few more minutes before I used my Chakra senses to see if I could detect anyone outside before leaving my training grounds. Upon noticing that no one was around, I quickly sneaked out of the trees and begin to pretend that I was only walking home from a trip to the beach by the riverside. I had a towel hung over my shoulder from where I had hidden it right in front of the entrance of my training area; I even stuck on a pair of sunglasses to help the visual.

By the time I had crossed town to my home, the sun was almost completely gone from the sky. I was exhausted and was excited to eat dinner, take a bath, and then go to bed to rest up for tomorrow's mission.

I entered my house as soon as I reached it. My mother was sitting at the table drinking the disgusting brew that was called coffee.

"Hello, dear!" my mother cheerfully said. "I kept dinner warm for you. How was the beach?"

My mother of course, knew about my secret training, though she did not know the location. She was simple asking it like that in case someone was listening in on the conversation. "It was great, I got lots of sun! My skin is getting pretty tan!" I said back. I knew she quickly decoded this as: "I got a good amount of training done, and I have begun mastering a new technique!" (Fire Style: Fire Phoenix Flower Jutsu).

"That's good, I know that the sun doesn't come out very often and you don't get a chance to enjoy it!" she said. I decoded this as: "I'm glad your training went well. I'm sorry you have to do it in secret and very randomly."

"That's okay, mom. I like the sun, but if it didn't come out, I wouldn't be too disappointed. The sun always comes out again," I said meaning that if I couldn't have trained today, I would have found another time to do so.

"That's a good attitude, dear! Keep it up!" my mother said meaning exactly what she had said.

After my discussion with my mother, I ate my dinner and went to take a shower. I then went to bed and fell asleep instantly.

_**This is shorter than the last two chapters but have no fear! I will be posting another chapter today or tomorrow!**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Author's Note: Sorry everyone that the last chapter was a bit shorter than the rest. I was originally going to include this chapter with the last one, but I decided that doing that wouldn't make much sense, so I made it its own chapter. As always, thank you to everyone who reads my story and if you have any suggestions about my story, please review! I **__**LOVE**__** my constructive critics! **_

_**Also, any conversations in italics will be between Sakura and her inner self. Flashbacks will also always be in italics. **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and any characters/events I don't make up myself belong to the original author. **_

_**Chapter 4-The Mission **_

"No! No more boring missions!" Naruto roared. "Give me something good! I want a better mission then babysitting or gardening! I want a real mission!"

"Naruto, don't be rude!" Kakashi scolded. "Take what you get!"

My entire team was meeting with the Hokage and several other officials that were responsible for handing out missions. They were again trying to give us a D-ranked mission, the lowest possible missions in the Ninja world. I was fed up with getting such ridiculously low-ranked and boring missions. I agreed with Naruto's outburst, but figured that my silence was the best choice. I had to learn to accept things that went slow or boring; I couldn't exactly stand up, show my true talents and get an A-ranked mission, the highest mission available, without severe consequences. I just wished that-

"No! Give us a good mission!" yelled Naruto interrupting my thoughts.

Iruka-Sensei, one of the mission officials, sighed and looked at the Hokage. The Hokage gave a slight nod of his head and Iruka turned back to us, "Alright, Naruto. If you want a good mission, then we can give you a C-Ranked mission."

"Yes! We'll take it, we'll take it!" Naruto said excitedly.

Iruka sighed again, "Alright, your mission is to protect and escort a certain individual."

"Aww sweet!" Naruto's excitement was only growing. "Who, who? Is a princess? Or how about a lord?!"

"Hold on," the Hokage said. "I am about to introduce him." He then looked towards the door, "Will you come in, please?"

A slightly drunk man stumbles into the office. He was much older than Kakashi with greying dark hair and beard while holding a bottle that was presumably alcohol. He wore a rope-like thing around his head and tiny glasses over his glazed eyes. When he spoke his voice was scratchy and dull. "What's this?" he questioned peering around at my team. "They are all a bunch of little brats, 'specially the short one with the stupid looking face."

It took Naruto a few seconds to compare heights before he realized that the man was talking about him. This lead him to another loud outburst, "I'll kill you!" he shouted.

This time it was Kakashi's turn to sigh, "Idiot, you can't go around killing the person you are paid to protect."

The man brushes off Naruto's outburst and introduces himself, "Hello, I am the awesome expert bridge builder Tazuna. I expect you to provide perfect protection until I reach my home and complete the bridge."

We all introduced ourselves and then we headed home to get packed for the long trip ahead of us. We met up at the village exit gate where Naruto got into yet another fight with the bridge builder. I wasn't paying much attention but it was something about him being a ninja and someday will be Hokage.

Anyway, we left the village. For most of us, it had been the first time to ever step out of the safety of our enclosed hometown. It was thrilling to finally be able to start a mission that required more than basic gardening and pet rescue abilities. I could feel the excitement building up in Naruto as we took another step farther and farther outside of the doors to the Village Hidden in the Leaves. But where there was excitement in Naruto, there was nothing in Sasuke. It was like he couldn't feel anything other than anger and pain. He was a void of darkness wrapped in agony and shielded in the cloak of an avenger.

I wanted him to be happier; he is my cousin and teammate after all. He was left with nothing, while I had everything that he could ever have wanted. A family, friends, and the ability to work in a team (even if those things were all based on lies)-those were the things that had been ripped from him when his brother destroyed the Uchiha clan. Itachi had forced Sasuke to shoulder the pain and hatred utterly alone and it had destroyed him.

The sound of Naruto's loud voice startled me out of my thoughts. Again he was yelling at the Tazuna that he was going to kill him.

We had already walked several miles and the sun was still high in the sky. We were walking on a dirt road that had wooded areas on both sides. I noticed a few water puddles on the ground (it had not rained in days and the sun was very hot, so it was far too obvious) and combining that with sensing other people with developed chakra systems around besides us, I realized that we were about to be ambushed. My hand slowly moved to the small weapons holder on my hip. I discreetly slid my hand into the opening of the pouch and laced my fingers around a kunai knife. I glanced over at Kakashi and saw that he had slightly tensed in anticipation. The eyebrow that could be seen outside of his mask was furrowed and his eye was faintly narrowed. It was apparent that he knew what was about to happen. The rest of my group walked past the puddles with no hesitation, not realizing what would be to come.

I forced myself to remain calm; although I could easily hold my own against the to-be ambushers, I was still slightly nervous since it would be my first fight and that if I didn't focus, I may lose control and show off a few powers that no normal non-Uchiha would have.

Suddenly, I sensed the two ninja move and leap into the air. They threw chains at Kakashi that wrapped around him. Without warning, the ninja pulled the end of the chains furiously and blood shot out of Kakashi's now ragged body.

_"Wow, I didn't even see him make the hand signs for substitution Jutsu," _inner said._ "He's good."_

_ "Yes, but I can't focus on that now!" _I say to her.

The two ninja weren't done yet and they dashed towards Naruto with poisoned claws. Naruto may be able to talk big about his skills, but it didn't show when he fought, because he became as still and as frozen as a statue. Within less than one second from Naruto getting cut down by the deadly claws, Sasuke came to his rescue. He kicked the first ninja away from Naruto, but the other managed to still slice Naruto's hand before getting kicked away as well.

One of the ninja attacked Sasuke and knocked him away before both started to advance on the bridge builder and me. I quickly moved in front of Tazuna and ripped out my weapon that I had been holding since I noticed the puddle. I held it threateningly out in front of me and glared at the two rapidly approaching ninja. I was about to engage in combat with them when Sasuke appeared in front of me and took a simple Taijutsu stance. I was slightly annoyed that he would take my chance to finally feel real battle, but that feeling was interrupted by Kakashi appearing and grabbing the two masked ninja and knocking them out.

"Your…your alive, Kakashi-Sensei!" I yell, though I am not at all surprised.

"Yes, I am," Kakashi said. "I would have come to you rescue earlier Naruto, but I didn't think that you would freeze like that and get hurt."

"Why didn't you stop them before?" Sasuke asks. "You could have easily killed them."

"True, but then I would not know who these men were targeting; if they were after one of us, or Tazuna," Kakashi said his voice starting to get angry. "They were obviously after you, Tazuna. We were paid to protect you from robbers and gangs, if we had known that ninja were after you, this would have at least been a B-raked mission, not a C-ranked."

"B-ranked missions are more expensive and even our feudal lord is poor!" Tazuna protested.

"Unfortunately, we are out of rank. With Naruto injured and infected with poison, we will have to turn back and get medical treatment. Then we can assign a proper team to take you back to your country."

I could feel Naruto's emotions get very dark. I knew that he must feel like a complete loser for freezing and getting hurt-which is now going to cost us the mission. Naruto's emotions turned to determination and he did something that even I didn't expect. He took out a Kunai knife and plunged it deeply into his hand. Blood sprayed from the wound, draining the poison out with every crimson drop. When he spoke, his voice was low and full of resolve, "We will not back down! We will continue this mission and keep you safe, Tazuna! I swear it on this blood!"

"Umm… Naruto, I'm happy that you are so amped up about this mission, but if that injury keeps bleeding like that, you are going to die," Kakashi said.

"Ahhh! No! I'm too young to die! I'm going to be Hokage one day!" Naruto cried.

Kakashi sighed under his breath, "Idiot." Out loud he said, "Naruto, I have bandages. Come here."

While Kakashi was bandaging Naruto's cut, I manage to get a look at it. It was actually almost healed; the corners of the gash were the color of a new scar already.

_"Must be the fox,"_ my inner self thought. _"I did not realize that the fox could even manipulate Naruto's physical condition…interesting."_

_"It makes sense, though, if you think about it. The fox would naturally want to protect its host. If Naruto were to die, the Kyuubi could also be lost,"_ I thought. _"He may also live a longer life as well._"

"Most likely," she said.

_"I need to focus, so please leave me alone for a while. Especially don't interrupt me while I'm fighting; if I was to become unfocused, I could lose control over my true powers and well…you know." _

_"I get it, I get it. If you were to be discovered, your mother would be in danger. Tch… I have heard it a thousand times before,"_ she fell silent after that.

After Naruto had been fixed up, Kakashi made Tazuna tell us what was really going on. He confessed that he had a really dangerous man after him by the name of Gatou that wanted to get rid of him because the building of a new bridge would get into the way of his illegal drug operation.

Tazuna used a guilt trip to convince Kakashi to continue the mission.

_"Well if you quit the mission now, don't worry about it! If die, my adorable little grandson will only cry for a few days and my daughter will be sad and my country will only hate the Leaf Village for forever!" Tazuna said. "Don't worry; it won't be your fault!" _

_ Kakashi visibly sweat dropped and said, "Well, we have no choice, we will protect you at least until you reach your country." _

So here we were on our way again to the Wave country. This time, though, our journey was more apprehensive and less carefree. Everyone was on edge, trying to hide the fact that they all had their hands on their weapons pouch. Even Naruto, who normally cracks jokes, was quieter and tensed up.

We finally reached the only route that would take us to Tazuna's home-the water. We had to take a canoe-like boat to get to the main land to continue our journey again. It was a long and unpleasant ride, as Naruto turned out to get seasick. He spent most of the voyage hunched over the edge of the boat, vomiting violently. When we finally reached the land, we all got off nauseated due to Naruto's sickness.

The journey on land was even rougher, because Naruto have gotten back a lot of his hyperactivity and was constantly throwing shuriken into the bushes, claiming that there was an enemy hiding there. At one point, he heard a noise in the bushes and threw a weapon on it. It turned out to be a bunny, but something was off.

The bunny was snow white, and in the middle of winter, that was very unusual and unlikely. Normal rabbits would have turned brown, but this one was completely white. I could see Kakashi's mind reeling and I could tell that we came to the same conclusion: this was another ploy. The new attackers would most likely be high ranked-Jounin level. They had switched their bodies with the rabbit in attempt to get close to us and annihilate us without much trouble. Unfortunately for whoever was behind this, Kakashi's and my calculating minds automatically realized the error.

I tried to use my chakra senses to scan the area to find the assailants, but either Kakashi and I was wrong about there being someone hidden, or the ninja was far too powerful for even my powers to find. The only thing I could sense was a slight movement of the air when the ninja attacked.

"Get down!" Kakashi shouted and dived at Naruto, knocking him to the ground.

Sasuke and I lunged at Tazuna and shielded him with our bodies. The ninja revealed himself; he had swung a giant sword-like weapon into a tree and was standing on its hilt. He looked powerful, and was wearing a slashed-through Hidden Mist headband-meaning that he was a Missing-Nin or rogue ninja. Kakashi glared at him and called him by the name Zabuza. I instantly recognized him as one on the 7-Ninja Swordsmen, one of the most powerful and well-known and dangerous groups of ninja.

Naruto tried to charge at the ninja, but Kakashi held out a hand and stopped him from getting to close. "Everyone, get back!" Kakashi hissed. "This one is on a whole different level then the last two."

Kakashi reached up to his headband that covered one eye and muttered, "It will be tough if don't do this."

Before he could rip off his headband, the Missing-Nin spoke, "Huh, if it isn't old Sharingan Kakashi."

"What, Sharingan?" Naruto asked confused.

I sensed Sasuke confusion, and I knew what he was thinking. He was confused that the most powerful weapon of the Uchiha was used in the same sentence as Kakashi.

"_Interesting, finally, I get to see one in action," _I thought to my inner self._ "Even Sasuke hasn't awakened the power yet, so I haven't been able to get a glance at the power that I could possibly, unfortunately possess one day."_

Unbelievably, my inner self didn't reply back. I realized that she must have listened to me when I said to not to bother me.

Kakashi had pushed up his head band and revealed the crimson eye of the Uchiha. I would study it late, but right now, it was imperative that I stay focused.

"Fight me!" Kakashi roared.

"I'm honored that I get to see the famous Sharingan of Kakashi Hatake," Zabuza hissed in a low voice.

"Sharingan? Sharingan? What the heck is that?" Naruto wailed in confusion, oblivious to the pending danger that the Ninja Swordsman could offer.

Sasuke sucked in his breath in utter confusion. I read in his face that he was trying to figure out how it was possible that someone not born of the Uchiha could have such a power.

"Let's end this senseless talking," Zabuza murmured with dark intent. "I have to kill that man."

Instantly, the three of my teammates circled the bridge builder and held out weapons. Kakashi continued to stay where he was, completely calm.

"It seems, Kakashi, that I have to beat you first before I can finish my mission," Zabuza sneered, taking in the situation.

He started towards Kakashi. But with little effort, Kakashi kicked him across the clearing and into a small pond nearly thirty yards away. Zabuza started stood atop of the water using precise chakra flow to his feet and began to summon chakra. I could feel the power of it as he began to weave signs. He disappeared and a think rolling fog began to quickly wash over us.

"He will come after me first. He is an expert at the silent killing," Kakashi tried to quickly tell us. "Stay close; I can use the Sharingan, but not perfectly."

I felt a strange emotion build up in Sasuke and I recognized it as paralyzing fear. Kakashi could clearly sense it to and told him, "Don't worry, Sasuke. I will never let my comrades die."

With those words, Kakashi moved and stabbed Zabuza, but what he had hit turned out to be a clone. After several back-and-fourths between the two; where Kakashi copied Zabuza's every move. Kakashi was suddenly hurled into the same pool of water that Zabuza had been in before.

Zabuza laughed maniacally and suddenly appeared behind Kakashi. "Fool!" Zabuza said.

I could sense a heavy chakra build up in the water and started to call out to Kakashi, but before I could do that, Zabuza uttered the words, "Water Prison No Jutsu."

With that, Kakashi was trapped in a large ball of water. This wasn't going to be easy to break out of; I vaguely recalled the details of this particle Jutsu. The only way to be freed from it was to force the caster to lose focus. We had just become completely and utterly alone. I could not use my real powers and the rest of my team stood no chance at beating Zabuza without a good plan, and I was fresh out of them.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Author's Note: I am dedicating this chapter to AnimeLover3232; thank you so much for the idea for this chapter! As always, I love my constructive critics and those who give me ideas! If anyone has an idea for this story, please review! (Please note: I may or may not be able to use your suggestions for my story, but I am ALWAYS grateful for them!) Thank you everyone who has reviewed, favored, or followed my story, y'all are awesome! By the way, this chapter is somewhat violent; I am warning you now! Enjoy!**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any events/characters I don't make up. **_

_**Chapter 5-The Battle **_

__I quickly surveyed the situation; Kakashi was being held by a swirling mass of chakra and water, leaving us to fight by ourselves. My team stood no chance at defeating Zabuza, the Ninja Swordsman, and the only way to free Kakashi was to disconnect Zabuza away from his Water Jutsu. The only way to do that was to get past the clone was blocking us from attempting to rescue our sensei, but, since the clone shared half of Zabuza's powers, it was extremely strong.

Suddenly Zabuza spoke, "Hahaha, wearing those headbands like ninja. You know nothing about being ninja; you have never killed in order to keep from being killed you have never lost comrades to death. You are not ninja; you don't have any authority to call yourselves ninja." As he said the last word he disappeared.

"What? He disappeared again!" Naruto shouted.

I saw Zabuza charging at Naruto and I tried to shout out a warning, but Zabuza was already in the motion to hit Naruto. Naruto was struck and flew several feet back, blood spraying from his mouth. His headband was at Zabuza's feet and he was bleeding badly.

"Naruto!?" I yelled.

"Ugh," Naruto groaned.

"You are all just brats, not ninja!" Zabuza laughed. "You don't know the first things about being ninja!"

Kakashi, who was still able to talk, frantically shouted at us, "Run! Take Tazuna and run! There is no way for you to beat him! He is too powerful! As long as he is holding me in this prison, he can't move! The clone cannot move very far away from his normal body! Leave now! He is a demon!"

I could feel fear coming from all of my teammates, even Sasuke who never felt anything other than hatred was afraid. Suddenly, as if Naruto had no fear, he stood up confidently.

"I will not be afraid!" Naruto roared.

"No, don't!" Kakashi screamed, knowing what Naruto was intending to do.

Naruto didn't listen to Kakashi and charged at Zabuza.

_"That idiot!"_ my inner self yelled. _"He is going to be killed!" _

"Idiot," Zabuza said, echoing my inner self's thoughts. His clone smacked at Naruto again, and sent him flying backwards towards us.

"What are you doing, charging at him yourself?" I seethed. "We Genin have no chance at defeating him!"

Naruto started to get up again and I noticed something glinting in his hand. _"Maybe he isn't an idiot after all,"_ I thought when I realized what he had.

"Ouch," Naruto gasped, holding his headband in his hands. He fully stood up and confidently held up his headband. "Put this in your hit list-My name is Naruto Uzumaki! I am the future Hokage of the Hidden Village in the Leaves!"

"Sure you are, kid," Zabuza chuckled. "But, that dream of yours will be impossible if you are dead!"

"Sasuke, I have a plan," Naruto said ignoring Zabuza.

"Teamwork from you?" Sasuke smirked. "Let's hear it."

He whispered his plan at us, it was simple, but it might work if everything fell into place.

"Now, let's get wild!" Naruto shouted.

"No! Stop! This fight was over when I was caught!" Kakashi cried.

"He's right, unless you want to die, leave!" Zabuza said calmly. "You are just children playing ninja, you stand no chance!"

"No! We will defeat you!" Naruto shouted confidently.

"You were warned!" Zabuza's clone said and attacked Sasuke. He kicked him hard in the chest.

"Ack!" Sasuke cried out, blood spraying from his lips.

"Sasuke-Kun!" I yelled.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto yelled weaving hand signs. As his chakra formed, over a hundred Naruto clones appeared. "Here I come!" All of his clones attacked Zabuza's clone, but within a few seconds, he had knocked all of the clones off of him and destroyed them.

While in midair, Naruto grabbed his backpack and pulled out a large Shuriken and tossed it to Sasuke who had struggled to his feet.

"Evil Wind Shuriken: Shadow Windmill!" Sasuke said quietly, calmly. He leaped into the air and threw the large weapon towards Zabuza's real body. Zabuza caught it easily, but suddenly a second weapon appeared.

He dodged the shuriken and it flew behind him. Unknowingly to Zabuza, though, Naruto had disguised himself as the Shuriken and had appeared behind him in the air. Naruto pulled out a Kunai and threw the kunai at Zabuza's real body. This was it; this would allow Kakashi to be freed when Zabuza broke his connection with the Jutsu!

"Hahahaha!" Zabuza laughed. "You think that pathetic plan would work?" Zabuza easily side stepped the Kunai, still holding onto the connection with the prison Jutsu. Naruto's kunai entered the water prison and hit Kakashi. The originally blue water turned into crimson red as Kakashi bleed through the opened wound in his back.

"Ahhhhhh!" Kakashi screamed out in pain. His pain was so strong that it overpowered my senses and rippled through me.

I let out an equally shrill animal-like screech and saw darkness eating away at the edges of my vision. "No!" my thoughts were wild; I could barely hold on to them long enough to understand them. "I must stay conscious!" I willed myself to stay on my feet.

I felt the utter panic and shock of my teammates. We had believed this plan would work, but we had underestimated our enemy. I wanted to use my powers, but for the first time ever, I couldn't feel them trying to escape. It's like they had disappeared.

Zabuza's clone moved again, this time it targeted Naruto. Naruto tried to fight back, but the clone's power was far too immense for him to do anything. Zabuza threw Naruto against a tree and Naruto hit with a sickening _CRACK_. Then there was nothing coming from Naruto. In one single motion, Naruto's life was destroyed. He was a void in my abilities. My chakra senses picked up nothing from Naruto; his chakra systems had already shut down.

"No!" I screamed, completely defenseless.

"_Use your powers, now!"_ my inner self shouted at me.

"_I…I can't!"_ I shrieked back at her.

"_Concentrate!"_ she ordered. _"We will all be killed if you don't do something now!"_

I tried to calm down and reach inwards towards the metaphorical chest that contained my true powers, but I couldn't feel the powers that normally threatened to overflow.

"_Hurry, Sakura!" _my inner self had started to panic as well.

"_They are gone!"_ I wailed to her. _"I can't feel my powers anymore!"_

"_Then we are all dead,"_ my inner self stated with a finality.

Without my normal powers, I was defenseless. I couldn't understand why they had suddenly disappeared on me at such a crucial time. Naruto was gone and I couldn't do anything to stop it. I felt tears leak down my face and I cursed myself for them; I had to get back into focus, I had to stop Zabuza from harming Sasuke and Tazuna at all costs. I had lost focus for a few seconds I had talked to my inner self, and now I had to focus on the battle before me.

"How dare you!" Sasuke yelled furiously. Sasuke tried to attack the clone, but the clone easily fought him off with a quick slide to the right. He grabbed Sasuke and lifted him. I tried to start towards Zabuza while Sasuke struggled against the hold. Somehow, Sasuke pulled free from his grip and tried to use a Kunai to slice the clone's throat. The clone dodged the attack and continued to advance on Sasuke.

I had reached Zabuza's clone, and I helped Sasuke attack; but without my real powers, I stood no chance. The clone easily shoved me away and I fell and hit my head on a rock. I couldn't see anything and the sounds from my cousin's battle sounded distant and muffled. I forced myself to ignore the obvious head injury and gain my focus back. I tried to stand up and fell to the ground dizzily. When I finally struggled to my feet to rejoin the battle, I noticed too late that Sasuke made a mistake.

The clone grabbed Sasuke but before he could break free again, the clone didn't give him a chance to do so. In one swift motion, Zabuza's clone raised Sasuke above his head and cracked Sasuke's back on his knee. The loud snap completely woke me up. I felt pain course through my back, and knew that the pain meant that Sasuke's spine had been broken in half. Sasuke let out a horrifying, deafening scream before falling silent forever. He was dead.

I froze, my eyes wide, not believing that my comrade, my cousin, was dead and I was alone. I stood stiff, I couldn't move. Doing this, I allowed Zabuza to attack Tazuna without blinking an eye. Tazuna stood absolutely no chance against the ninja and was killed swiftly and bloodily. The clone brought the kunai that had lead Tazuna to his death and licked it. The blood smeared across his face.

"Your turn, little girl," Zabuza's clone laughed maniacally. He started towards me as well and I just stood there, allowing him to approach.

"_Son of a…! Move, dang it!"_ my inner self screamed. _"What are you doing?"_

Her voice woke me up and I began to panic. Two of my teammates were dead and another was close to death as well. Now their killer was targeting me. I wanted to defend myself, but I couldn't think. I never thought that a situation like this was would occur; where I would be the only one standing while my comrades lay motionless around me.

"Awaken!" a man's voice called that sounded in my mind and all around me. I saw a flash of red eyes and dark hair and suddenly my mind went completely calm.

I felt a strange powerful feeling well up in my stomach and behind my eyes. It became painful and I felt myself about to faint, but as quickly as it had become painful, it went away and left me with a sensation of pure power. I stood. I was no longer afraid, and I felt more powerful than I had ever before.

My green contacts fried with the amount of power that was surging from my eyes. I saw clearly then and I looked around me. I saw everything. I could see every molecule around me, every fiber of every object. I adjusted my gaze upon Zabuza, not caring about the clone. I could see every bone in his body; I saw his entire chakra network pulsing chakra to his hands that was still holding the crimson prison. I looked at my own body, I had a strange purple glow radiating off of my body. I looked down and noticed that the powerful aura was eating away at my clothes, but not harming me what-so-ever. I could feel my hair raise and power flow through every atom of my being. My fingertips shined the purple light and they were warm.

"What the heck?" Zabuza's real body stuttered, confused at seeing my new appearance. I glanced at him again and though his face didn't show it, I felt his fear and disbelief at the sight of me. His skin appeared to be flaking away and I realized that it was my own power that was doing it.

I calmly moved into an advanced Taijutsu position and sprung. I attacked Zabuza with a speed that was inhuman; a speed that I had never had before. My outstretched foot slammed into Zabuza's chest and knocked him several feet away from Kakashi. I heard several of Zabuza's ribs splinter at the force that was behind my kick, and he lay unconscious. I turned away from him; I would have to take care of him later; he was down for now.

I observed Kakashi's condition. He lay in a fetal-like position on the ground and he was panting heavily. His clothes were soaked in dark crimson blood and the Kunai in his back still had blood pumping out around it. I kneeled down next to him and took a closer look. The Kunai was protruding into the back of his left shoulder, right next to his heart. From the looks of it, it hadn't hit the vital organ, but it was close enough that if it was removed incorrectly, it would kill him. I had little to no experience in the medical field, but I knew some of the basics. We were too far removed from civilization to be able to take him to a hospital and there was a possibility that me moving him would cause more harm than good. Unfortunately, I had to remove the knife. If it stayed in the wound any longer, it could prove to be fatal.

I pulled another Kunai out of my weapons pouch and used it to cut open the back of Kakashi's shirt. My eyes were still activated and I used it to my advantage. With steady hands, I started to slide the Kunai out of the wound.

While I was in the process of removing the Kunai, Zabuza had managed to get back up and he attacked me. I had been too focused on trying to save Kakashi that Zabuza was able to get behind me and hit me. I swatted him away, but I lost my focus on the Kunai and I jostled my hand. The kunai cut deeper into Kakashi's back and nicked his heart. Immediately, more blood poured out of the wound, completely soaking the ground underneath him. There was no way to save Kakashi now, his life blood had already seeped out and dyed the grass a dark red.

I turned away from Kakashi's body, my power flaring and I went at Zabuza.

"How dare you kill my comrades?" I yelled furiously as I fought with him.

"You killed them," Zabuza said without any hint of remorse. "You should have listened to me when I told you to leave this place. But, you are now a true ninja."

"The death of one's comrades is not the path to being a ninja!" I shrieked out at him. I sideswiped Zabuza's head and sent him flying into the forested area.

Zabuza wasn't dead yet, and I wasn't going let him live any longer. I used my chakra senses to lead me to where he lay. I pulled my last Kunai out of my pouch and raised it above me, fully intending to make my first kill.

Suddenly, I sensed another presence near me and I turned around.

"Don't worry, I will finish this," the figure said. He came into view. He was wearing a mask, but my eyes saw under it. I could tell he was young, maybe a few years older than I was. He swiftly grabbed needles from his own weapons pouch and flung them at the barely breathing body on the ground; they hit his neck and went all of the way through. I felt Zabuza's chakra networks slow and then stop, I witnessed his heart beat become muted and all of the blood in his body cease to move. He was dead.

"Who are you, how dare you take away my chance at revenge?" I heatedly questioned the masked figure.

"I am Haku, I have been hunting Zabuza a long time. You are too young to kill; I saved you from that horror. You should thank me," he answered simply.

"He killed my comrades!" I spat at Haku. "He deserved to die at my hands!"

"He slaughtered my entire town," Haku said. "If anyone could be justified in killing him, it was I."

"I'm sorry," I lost part of my rage. "Please leave now. I need to attend to the bodies of my comrades."

"As you wish, I am taking Zabuza's body along with me. He is wanted in many places and I need to show them that their greatest enemy is dead."

"I do not care," I bit at him and he left along with Zabuza's body.

I returned to the clearing and leaned against a tree, my heart breaking into a million pieces. Tears ran down my face and I sobbed into my hands. My comrades were dead and I couldn't prevent it. What good was it to have the powers I have if they could not even save my friends? How could I return to the village and tell them that three of their own were gone forever and I was completely unharmed?

"You can save them," the voice I had heard before whispered. "Go."

My power began to grow again and my body returned to its glowing state. I felt my body began to rise into the air and I hovered ten feet off of the ground. My power flew over the entire field and turned a dazzling green color that shimmered and felt warm and comforting. The energy rested on each of my collapsed companions. Unlike before where I felt a great sense of power, I felt it begun to drain. The energy was being sucked out of me and I begun to feel weak and tired. All of the light that had been blasting off of me was being pulled towards the bodies that lay on the ground.

When all of the light from my body rested onto my fallen comrades, I gave into the weariness and allowed myself to fall into the black abyss of sleep, hoping, praying, that when I awoke, everything would be different.

_**A cliffhanger! What will happen next, who was that person that Sakura saw? Only I know (Evil laugh)! See what happens to Sakura in the next chapters! Please review! Thank you!**_


	6. Not Actually a Chapter, Sorry

_**Not Actually a Chapter, Sorry 'Bout That **_

_**Hi everyone! I know you were probably expecting a chapter, but sadly I haven't had time to finish the one I am working on. I have my ACT coming up on Saturday and I have been trying to desperately study for it in hopes to get a decent score. I apologize, and I do hope to get a chapter in ASAP! Thank you and don't forget to stay awesome my loyal fans! **_


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